Prometheus - Part 9

[Silvermoth]

Did anyone like Holloway? I don't get what Shaw saw in him. There's almost no scenes where he's not a *****e in some way.

He had fantastic abs.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well, I wholeheartedly disagree, and you'll have to deal with that. David's conversation with Charlie was merely a theoretical assessment. You view it as thee grand answer to the franchise but evidence lies with Ridley Scott himself in the most recent interviews. If the David-Charlie conversation was 'obvious' then Scott's subtle hints during the press rounds must have been like a sledgehammer to the knee.

Ridley confirmed his influence followed closely to the ancient astronaut theories and the Sumerian legends involving The Annunaki. Furthermore, Scott made an interesting comment regarding Jesus of Nazareth as possibly being a representative for The Engineers, not God.



Then explain to me how the various ancient civilizations (separated by thousands of years with no contact) came to know about the Engineers, and how they managed to uncover the planetary system (which was confirmed to be out of range for the human eye without the aid of a telescope) where LV-223 was located in?

Yes, I'm ignoring the obvious.

Like Janek's assessment? The reason they were so on the nose is bad writing.

I felt this movie had two good characters. David and Shaw. David is a fascinating character because he's a robot/android. Except he doesn't seem interested in "becoming human" or having the human experience like they usually do in sci-fi. Like HAL-9000, he's intrigued by it and observes it, but you don't get the sense he wants it for himself. And instead of learning emotions, we're kept on our toes as unsure whether he has them or not (did Weyland tell him to test the goo on Holloway or did he do it out of a sense of revenge for being picked on? Did he expect the engineer to go ape ****, but wanted it to "kill his parent"?). Any robot that models itself after Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia is a pretty amazing character to me.

Shaw is intriguing because she's a strong Ridley Scott female protagonist. While not as iconic as Ripley (yet), she is interesting because she doesn't start off strong. She's a naive believer and a walking contradiction. She has lost her parents, Christian missionaries, to horrible things like ebola and has become a scientist trying to learn how we were created and seemingly trying to disprove God. But she is still a very devout Christian reconciling everything she sees with her faith. And her curiosity drives her into some extreme situations that when push comes to shove she discovers she is a survivor and, as David says, has remarkable survivor instinct after she cuts the aline out of her stomach. Never mind the pro-choice parallels, it's just an amazing scene of strength.

The other characters are interesting but underdeveloped. Janek is the only one who feels like a throwback to the crew of the Nostromo. You could see Janek being in that movie. And his casual, blue collar, "I don't give a ****" attitude contrasts Shaw/Holloway/Weyland/David nicely. He's funny and pragmatic, but he doesn't have enough screentime. Vickers works better on second viewing because once you know her relationship with Weyland, you understand her motivations much better and she's much more interesting. I wouldn't say likable though. Holloway's OK, but he's killed off far too early before we can really see the horror of what's happening to him and his depression over finding a dead engineer seems too sudden.

So, I'd say there are two strong characters and three more who are decent and could've been strong if the film developed them more. Then there are literally a dozen side characters just there to die. That is disappointing, but then again Aliens had plenty of "red shirt" characters and Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection/i] had nothing but meat characters supporting Ripley. Still, Prometheus could've been stronger if they got rid of most of the meat and developed at least Holloway and Janek a little more.

Just my opinion.

Shaw was naive to the annoying end. David was cool, but Shaw came off as entitled crybaby who Ripley would smack with her rifle.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Like Janek's assessment? The reason they were so on the nose is bad writing.

Keep in mind though, Janek's assessment was merely a guess. At no point did he sound certain.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Keep in mind though, Janek's assessment was merely a guess. At no point did he sound certain.

Yes he did. He sounded quite sure.

 

[Mandalore464]

Edit : Deleted

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It is the only revelation in the movie.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Yes he did. He sounded quite sure.

I don't think so. His exact quote sounded uncertain.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Even if I agreed that he didn't sound certain, he was clearly speaking for the writer.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Even if I agreed that he didn't sound certain, he was clearly speaking for the writer.

You then have to take into account as to why The Engineers would 'invite' humanity or pinpoint the location to a military instellation.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

You then have to take into account as to why The Engineers would 'invite' humanity or pinpoint the location to a military instellation.

Because the movie was badly written.

 

[enquencle]

I believe this movie has plenty of script issues, and they didn't know exactly what to keep from the previous drafts.
If i remember correctly, in the first draft the ship entered a wormhole and ended up in what was supposed to be their destnation, but they weren't exactly sure.

Are they certain that the planet they go to in this movie is the same one seen on the paintings?

I hope this gets some kind of answer or clarification on the directors cut.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Maybe Shaw and Co just assumed it was an invitation?

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Because the movie was badly written.

Sounds like a lack of a better explanation to me.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Maybe Shaw and Co just assumed it was an invitation?

Then what else could the murals mean? I doubt it's a warning, and I doubt The Space Jockeys would give humanity the quadrants to a planetary system where 'weapons of mass destruction' are created just for the hell of it. The Engineers told these ancient civilizations of that instellation for a reason.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I don't think so. His exact quote sounded uncertain.

His quote was uncertain, the only thing he says is ".....MAYBE even military?" regarding the function of the temple/ship. He never says it was definately military just suggests that it possibly might be, I know because I looked out for his quote upon my 2nd viewing. He is guessing because what he has seen from the goo so far is dangerous things that kill.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Sounds like a lack of a better explanation to me.

Not my fault he can't write all that well.

 

[dark_b]

Mark Kermode review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyxZBuWSXM

 

[DyeLorean]

What I like about Shaw is that she's curious, she wants to know. And that represents me as an audience member, I wanna know too. I identify with her character.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

His quote was uncertain, the only thing he says is ".....MAYBE even military?" regarding the function of the temple/ship. He never says it was definately military just suggests that it possibly might be, I know because I looked out for his quote upon my 2nd viewing. He is guessing because what he has seen from the goo so far is dangerous things that kill.

Bingo.

 

[regwec]

Mark Kermode review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyxZBuWSXM

Yeah, I agree with absolutely everything he says. It's an imperfect movie, but it is interesting and "unashamedly sci fi". 7.5 seems like a fair score.

My most enduring problem with it centers on every character who isn't Shaw or David. Most of them are stereotypes, apart from Holloway, who is strange in that he is neither unlikeable or very sympathetic.

Overall, I like it, and I expect to like the director's cut more, especially when viewed in concert with its sequel(s).

 

[Angry Sentinel]

Like you I enjoy the subject matter. The opening was really promising. I found the Engineers design quite neat. I liked the Vickers/Weyland moment. I really liked the "meeting". I liked the Vickers "taking a stand against this group of idiots" moment.

But what really made me like this film was David. Every David scene, with the exception of the overlong security tapes scene, had me. His words to Weyland were an actual emotional moment in the film.

Sorry for the late response, my computer was down

Exactly, I got so excited to see the "androids" return to this movie series, especially since this stint is supposed to focus on creationism. Seriously, the writer/ directors could have blown this thing open with David, Vickers, Weyland, the captain and Dr Shaw. Way too much focus on cliched action- suspense scenes. I understand they needed Shaw's lover for the sex scene, but even he was kind of useless for me.

Maybe they plan on getting deeper in this next installment, I can only hope the execution improves.

 

[Angry Sentinel]

I thought this was interesting:

Sorry, not spamming, just thought this deserved to make it to another page, lol

 

[regwec]

With the best will in the world, I can't identify anything in Janek or Vickers that made them any more rounded as characters than "I'm not here to make friends, pal" Fifield. Vickers, I suppose, is afforded some ambiguity by the evident intent to leave the question of her human/robotic nature in question, but she is still presented as an off-the-peg corporate *****.

I think Noomie has been slightly underrated as Shaw. The role and her performance is not destined to become as iconic as Sigourney's turn as Ripley, but what could? I think it would have been a mistake to try to recapture all of that magic. I find Shaw to be likeable and resourceful, and to be quite a good "barometer of atmosphere", which is important for actors in these sorts of movies.

I do hope, however, that Ridley and co feel they have given the Christian hypothesis enough of an airing in this film, and that they will set it aside for the next. It's not that I object to it being addressed, but it seems to drag what should be a conceptual sci-fi film into murky waters.

 

[regwec]

I thought this was interesting:

The third line down looks like something the Klan might insinuate to warn against cross-racial marriage.

 

[Angry Sentinel]

I don't disagree, both of those characters were more than enough "side-show" filler, we didn't even need the other characterizations. But Captain needed to be sussed-out because he was important to the self-sacrifice theme. We needed more of him and his principals for that to have meant more (again, to have been a better film). Vickers has more than just the corporate B***# angle, She's Weyland's actual daughter and she clearly has "daddy issues". They could've have had all kinds of three-way action fun with her, Weyland, and David... But they chose not to for the two idiots getting lost and random attack by an infected one on the ship...wasted stuff if you ask me.